Greater St. Louis is a multi-state
metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the
independent city of
St. Louis (its principal city). It includes parts of both the U.S. states of
Missouri and
Illinois. The city core is on the border with
Illinois and collectively the two regions form the combined metropolitan area. St. Louis is the largest metro area in
Missouri, and is the second largest in
Illinois.
St. Louis County is independent of the city of St. Louis and their two populations are generally tabulated separately.

As noted above, the Greater St. Louis area includes two cities named O'Fallon (in St. Charles County, Missouri and St. Clair County, Illinois) and two cities named Troy (in Lincoln County, Missouri, and Madison County, Illinois).

The nearby
Hannibal–
Quincy micropolitan areas are technically not located within the metropolitan, but are regionally associated due to their proximity and accessibility to Greater St. Louis.[15]

Demographics

According to the
2010 United States Census, in Greater St. Louis there were 2,787,701 people living in 1,143,001 households, of which 748,892 households were families.

Income and housing statistics

As of 2010, Greater St. Louis included 1,264,680
housing units, and 90.4 percent or 1,143,001 units were occupied. Of those units that were vacant, 3.2 percent or 40,553 units were for rent, 1.6 percent or 19,956 were for sale, 1 percent or 12,575 were unoccupied seasonal homes, and .5 percent or 6,771 were sold or rented but unoccupied. 3.3 percent or 41,884 units were vacant and not for sale or rent. Of the occupied housing units, 70.6 percent or 807,431 were
owner-occupied with 2,075,622 occupants. 29.4 percent or 335,570 units were
rented with 739,749 occupants.[5]

In 2010, the median income for a household in the St. Louis metro was $50,900.[16]

Transportation

Transportation in Greater St. Louis includes
road,
rail, and
air transportation modes connecting the communities in the area with national and international transportation networks. Parts of Greater St. Louis also support a
public transportation network that includes
bus, as well as the MetroLink
light rail which began operating in 1993. The principal airport serving the region is
St. Louis Lambert International Airport, located in St. Louis County.

Education

Education in Greater St. Louis is provided by more than two dozen public school districts, independent private schools,
parochial schools, and several public library systems. Greater St. Louis also is home to more than 30 colleges and universities.

Economy

The 2014 Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) of St. Louis was $145.958 billion.[17] That makes St. Louis the 21st highest GMP in the United States. The three largest categories of employment in Greater St. Louis are trade, transportation, and utilities with 249,000 workers, education and healthcare services with 225,000 workers, and professional and business services with 185,000 workers.[18] Greater St. Louis has more than 1.3 million non-farm workers, representing roughly 15 percent of the non-farm workforce of Missouri and Illinois combined. As of May 2011, 125,000 non-farm workers were unemployed in Greater St. Louis, with an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent. As of the third quarter of 2010, the Greater St. Louis region had more than 73,000 companies or establishments paying wages, while average weekly wages for that period were $833, slightly lower than the U.S. national average of $870.

The largest industry by business conducted was wholesaling with $71 billion, followed by manufacturing with $67 billion, retail trade with $36 billion, and healthcare with $16 billion. The area's largest employer by sector was healthcare with 174,000 workers, followed by retail trade with 152,000 workers and manufacturing with 134,000 workers.[19] Using available data, the combined value of business conducted in the combined statistical area was $213 billion in 2007.[19] With a gross metropolitan product of $112 billion in 2009, St. Louis' economy makes up 40% of the Gross State Product of Missouri.[20]